Family bringing flavors of Brazil to Sioux Falls with new Roots of Brasil restaurant
A new family-owned restaurant transports Sioux Falls diners to Brazil.
Kaila and Mark Gillespie hadn’t planned to get back into the restaurant business after selling Kaladi’s Bistro in 2021, but a year later, family-owned Roots of Brasil is opening this Saturday.
Kalia Gillespie went to Convolo, the event venue next door, for work one day and started thinking the vacant side would be perfect as a restaurant. She let her family in on the idea, and that night they went to check out the space.
The rest is history.
The new Brazilian restaurant, located at 201 North Weber Avenue, is run by the Grogan family, which consists of Kalia Gillespie and her husband, Mark, her brother and master chef Jamie Grogan, and her parents Tania and Kelly Grogan.
Roots of Brasil gets its name and influence from the family’s ties to the country.
Tania Grogan, the matriarch of the family, is from Brazil. She came to the United States in 1974 as an exchange student at Dakota State University, where she met her husband. She’s always loved to cook and taught her children its importance.
“Sitting down for a meal in Brazil is so important,’ she said, “and it’s a tradition that’s maintained. Food brings people together.”
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Tania Grogan retired last year, and though she had never planned to get into the restaurant business, her kids “"roped her in the game," as Jaime Grogan said.
The influences for Roots of Brasil restaurant
The floor tiles and the border on the menus mimics the black-and-white wave pattern on the boardwalk at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian-made hammocks hang from the ceiling.
“Every home in Brazil has one,” Tania Grogan said. “They’re perfect for naps after lunch.”
Kaili Gillespie describes the space as “nice and quaint,” and it can seat around 60 people.
“It’s a cool vibe,” she said. “And we’re excited to be around with all that movement downtown.”
The rest of Tania Grogan’s family still live in Brazil near the family’s ranch, which further inspired the decor.
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Family photos from the ranch hang in the “family room,” where there’s a large dining table built by Mark Gillespie’s brother. The theme of the space, as Mark Gillespie described it, is tropical beach mixed with ranch.
“It’s the two worlds we collectively know of Brazil,” he said,” and we wanted to pay homage to that.”
Foods are listed in Portuguese, which is the official language of Brazil. The top of the menu reads, “Onde há boa comida, há felicidade!” which translates to, “Where there is good food, there is happiness.”
There will be bossa nova music–a style that originated in Rio–playing in the background of the space, and the family plans to have a live keyboardist on the weekends.
Roots of Brasil's food options
Each dish is made with care. In Brazil, most of the ingredients are fresh, but the family use what they have.
“There are no mango trees out back, yet,” Kaili Gillespie joked.
As head chef, Jamie Grogan has taken much of his mother's influence and added his own spin when creating the menu.
“Brazilian food is one of the most underrated global cuisines in the world, in my opinion,” he said. “It’s gonna blow your mind.”
Lunch is the central meal in Brazil, and it always includes rice and beans. The feijoada dish on the menu is a big staple in Brazilian dining. It’s a black bean stew with pork, sausage, rice, farofa, vinaigrette and collard greens.
The churrasco steak dish feeds four people. Churrasco is the Portuguese equivalent of a barbeque in America and is served family-style.
The woodfire oven, left there from when the space was Breadico before it was Books & Brews, will be used for specialty pizzas and smoking meats for other dishes.
There are also several starters people can share so they can get a taste of the unique options, said Mark Gillespie. The menu includes a wide variety of food like frango risotto, Caribbean chicken and egg burgers, and some other dishes take their inspiration from other places outside of Brazil.
“That’s why it’s ‘Roots of’ Brasil,” Tania Grogan said. “There is no such thing as 100% Brazilian. There are so many cultures that all contribute greatly to our cuisine.”
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Beer, wine and other non-alcoholic Brazilian drinks will also be served.
“It’s important to all of us to continue to bring culture to Sioux Falls,” Mark Gillespie said, “We want to take them and transport them to Brazil … make Brazil proud.”
Roots of Brasil will open to the public Saturday, April 30, after a private soft opening Wednesday and Thursday, then close again Sunday and Monday.
Normal hours will be Tuesday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“At the end of the day,” Jamie Grogan said, “it’s really all about family.”
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Family-owned Brazilian restaurant opening Saturday in Sioux Falls
